At its Monday night meeting, Athens City Council discussed a draft of an ordinance proposed by Councilman Pat McGee, I-At Large, that aims to free up public parking spaces on West Union Street by making changes to vending parking space rules.
McGee said there is a need for both reserved parking spaces for vendors and parking spaces for the public.
That ordinance would require vendors to pay a monthly $125 fee instead of a yearly $15,000 fee. It would also allow vendors to have a spot by paying parking meters. However, they would not have a reserved spot. Parking spaces reserved only for vendors would be cut down from 10 to eight, allowing for more parking spaces available to the public.
“What I’ve tried to do is balance out the competing interests (of the vendors and public),” McGee said.
Damon Kane, owner of the Hot Potato food truck, said mobile businesses in Athens have lost a “substantial amount” of business due to public parking changes and was therefore is only in support of portions of the ordinance that would make the fee monthly.
Members also discussed applying for a $100,000 grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to address stormwater runoff issues and stream restoration.
In addition, members discussed applying for the Small Cities grant for roadway improvements on West State Street. The grant is for an unspecified amount of money.
Councilman Peter Kotses, D-At Large, said the City of Athens only has a few years left to apply for the Small Cities grant because the city’s population will continue to grow.
The Small Cities grant requires cities that apply to have a population less than 25,000 people. The City of Athens is expected to have more than that by the 2020 census.
Council members also discussed a proposed nuclear waste dump site in Piketon, a village about 65 miles from Athens, after a member of the Piketon City Council asked other towns to weigh in on this issue.
The citizens of Piketon have several issues with the proposed nuclear waste facility, including how it would affect economic development in the area. Fractures have also been found in the bedrock at the proposed site.
“The village has been ignored for a lot of time during this process,” Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-4th Ward, said.
